This invention relates generally to the field of chemical evaluation, particularly with chemical compounds which have been synthesized onto solid supports such as beads. More particularly, the invention relates to the organization of the solid supports following synthesis and the performance of assays on the chemical compounds in order to evaluate and/or identify particular compounds which are of interest.
In modern chemistry large libraries of chemical compounds are often created from which certain compounds which are of interest may be identified. The creation of such libraries may be accomplished with a synthesizing process where various compounds are placed on solid supports. Such processes are described in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,503,805 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/146,886, filed Nov. 2, 1993, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,639,603, both herein incorporated by reference.
The synthesis of compounds onto solid supports is advantageous in that the solid supports serve as a transport device to facilitate movement of the compounds. The solid supports also allow different compounds to be separated from other compounds in a complex mixture and allow for the release of the compound on demand.
In order to evaluate specific compounds, at least some of the compounds are released from the solid supports and assays are performed. The assay results are then measured and certain solid supports may be chosen for decoding or other processes, such as deconvolution and LCMS.
Although synthesizing processes and the performance of assays are known in the art, there are a number of problems that have yet to be addressed relating to the organization of the solid supports following synthesis so that the compounds can be evaluated. For example, the solid supports need to be separated from each other, preferably in some organized manner, so that the compounds can be released and assays performed.
The separation and organization of the solid supports is rendered especially difficult due to their size and construction. For instance, the solid supports are usually on the order of about 5 .mu.m to 300 .mu.m, making their handling difficult. Further, it is usually desirable to process the solid supports within a liquid medium, such as water or solvent, to prevent (among other reasons) the solid supports from sticking together. Hence, separating the solid supports from each other while within the liquid to perform assays can be difficult and challenging. The time, labor and materials required to process the solid supports and evaluate the compounds can also be significant. This is of particular concern as it becomes more desirable to create larger libraries.
It would therefore be desirable to provide systems and methods for processing solid supports following synthesis so that particular compounds may be evaluated. It would be especially desirable if such systems and methods facilitated the organization and separation of the solid supports so that compounds may easily be released and assays performed. In this manner, it is anticipated that the time, labor and materials required to evaluate compounds within large libraries may be greatly reduced.